


dead bodies don't float (2000)

by cherrywave



Series: Tales Of The Broken [7]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Drowning, Graphic, M/M, Mentions of Violence, Murder, content warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 06:21:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30118491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrywave/pseuds/cherrywave
Summary: donghyuck talks to his late boyfriend, yangyang, whom he previously drowned in the sea.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Liu Yang Yang
Series: Tales Of The Broken [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905235
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	dead bodies don't float (2000)

**Author's Note:**

> please read the tags carefully! this work is in lapslock and tagged explicit in terms of graphic/in detail description. read with caution.

people value the dead more than they value the living, but dead bodies don’t float–they sink. they continue to sink to the seabed while someone screams out for their name–heart bursting and eyes stinging, like calling out your loved one, only this time, there’s no one to pick up the phone on the other end of the line.

the seven laws of attraction never quite worked on donghyuck as he had longed to be nothing–no commitments, attachments, and regrets–yet, he unexpectedly had a boyfriend, yangyang, who he had to get rid of somehow.

donghyuck slowly sank as he stood bare feet on the fine sand. cold and brass cherry waves crashed against his feet as he observed the declining sun, revealing a merciless lavender sky–his gaze followed the cowardly sun as it reached the horizon.

only the crashing of the waves washing the smooth stone accompanied donghyuck as his eyes roamed the sea. he was alone, for a while.

dead bodies don’t float, yet he just saw one–a body sprang up near the horizon. slowly, it listlessly made its way to donghyuck, it ached to touch the shore. the latter did not move, not because he couldn’t but because he just didn’t–besides, it was yangyang.

once the boy reached the sand, he staggered to reach donghyuck, reaching out with his trembling pale with purple hue hands, pleading with his twitching bloodshot eyes, whispering with his quivering bloody swollen lips.

finally, he reached donghyuck.

“it’s been a while,” he said with his deflated voice as he caressed his old boyfriend’s face with his clammy hand.

donghyuck felt his heart skip a beat and he noticed that his breath hitched. dead bodies don’t talk. he stared right through yangyang’s glaring eyes and ignoring his budding bruised neck covered with pulsing veins trailing up to his jaw.

left in jeopardy by the sudden reunion, donghyuck’s eyes started to sting as if someone was squeezing the deepest crevice of his pupils and garnishing them with salt. whether it was because of sorrow or glee upon seeing yangyang, donghyuck blamed the sea.

“how’s life?” donghyuck managed to ask.

“well shit, donghyuck. don’t ask that as if you didn’t fucking killed me!” yangyang said irate.

“i didn’t mean to,” donghyuck replied. his hands travelled their way back to yangyang’s neck–muscle memory.

“you choked me underwater,” yangyang reminded to which donghyuck scoffed.

yangyang took donghyuck’s hand off his neck and he took them in his.

“follow me, i’ll show you around,” he said, pulling donghyuck out of the starving sand and guiding him into the bone-biting freezing sea.

“it’s not that bad,” donghyuck commented. he held yangyang’s hand firmly as he delved into the unforgiving sea.

the only difference of the sea from his mother’s hug is that it didn’t let go off him. it was numbing yet warm. it was the memory one reminisce when one is in peril. it was the good time of the worst. donghyuck became accustomed to the cold but since he kept walking, it always comes biting him back.

“let’s stop here for a minute,” yangyang said. the sea was knee deep and the two still held each other’s hand.

“where are we even going?”

“nowhere.”

“i like that,” donghyuck said.

“i know,” yangyang said without looking at donghyuck, instead, he contemplated the night sky which prompted the latter to do the same.

donghyuck never paid attention to the stars as there were a billion of them and frankly, none of them ever mattered. they never shone bright enough for him to marvel at them for more than a second.

“do you believe in constellations?” yangyang asked.

“they’re just mythological ‘connect the dots’,” donghyuck said, shifting his gaze to yangyang’s fascinated visage.

yangyang scoffed at donghyuck's comment. “maybe in a century, when we are finally the night sky. maybe we could be the void you always wished for.”

“maybe,” donghyuck said, looking up once more to see that the clouds were now covering the rhinestones of the velvet draped across the globe.

he shook his head a second later, yangyang still hasn’t grasped the concept of isolation. they couldn’t be a void together, simply because there wouldn’t be any camaraderie.

“let’s keep going,” yangyang said. 

past the sandy level, the texture of where donghyuck walked drastically changed. jagged rocks blocked donghyuck's path, yet he kept striding until the sea reached his chest, ignoring the pain of the rough texture that exposed his flesh open to the salty sea. he stopped on his tracks, prompting yangyang to cease as well.

donghyuck felt his feet ache from the rough texture of the rocks and the glacial sea.

“i know what you’re doing,” donghyuck said as familiar memories rushed back to him.

“hm?” yangyang pondered as he kept holding donghyuck’s hand underneath.

donghyuck took a few steps back, dragging yangyang with him before letting go of his hand. with the water current, it took him a while before he placed his trembling hands on yangyang’s neck once more.

he shifted his weight onto his toes as he exerted force on his hands to bring yangyang down but to no avail, the latter did not budge.

yangyang removed donghyuck’s hands once more, gripping and submerging them down the sea. yangyang walked closer to donghyuck, blankly staring at him. he reached for the stray hairs covering his face and he gently placed them behind donghyuck’s ears.

“c’mon donghyuck. fish don’t bite the same bait twice on the same day.”

impatiently, yangyang pressed his hand on donghyuck’s chest, slowly pushing him back while the other fought to free his hands.

he set donghyuck’s hand free and the latter clawed on yangyang’s arm for support. donghyuck’s breathing hitched as yangyang continuously pushed him down.

“why are you doing this?” donghyuck asked as he breathed heavily.

“why aren’t you fighting back?” yangyang retorted. “it’s apparent, donghyuck. you’ve always wanted to be nothing. even in your final breath, you can still only partially care.”

donghyuck continued to descend. he felt the salty sea damp his hair and creep into his ears. the greedy sea engulped his tears and made it its own.

“look,” yangyang said, raising both of his hands. “i even stopped pushing you ages ago.”

yet donghyuck didn’t bother to rise back up. his hands slowly let go of yangyang’s arms as he pushed himself deeper into the sea.

donghyuck finally did it. he plunged himself into the welcoming arms of the sea only for him to come back up moments later.

“aren’t you all about emptiness?” yangyang asked.

“what about it?” donghyuck replied as he ran his hands on his face.

“lay back,” he said.

yangyang’s right hand pillowed for the back of donghyuck’s head while his left hand was placed firmly on top of donghyuck’s chest.

“take a deep breath,” yangyang said. “and release it all out.”

donghyuck warily followed yangyang’s directions. he filled his lungs as much as he could and he released everything he had the next second. he felt himself descend back to the arms of the sea and yangyang’s touches slowly faded away.

he opened his eyes under yet he was greeted with the ruthless sting, thousand refined needles poked his irises. everything was blurry, and not even the moonlight can provide enough glow to allow him to look around.

he felt strong pressure on his neck, an ache to breathe yet there was a force that kept him down. donghyuck made a mistake of releasing air through his nose, which he was only notified of as he saw the asymmetrical bubbles rise up followed by a striking pain in his sinuses. with his adrenaline, he felt his heart beat quickly yet the next second it was heavy. donghyuck tried to scream but he was immediately filled with water, forcing him to intake the pitiless sea that once welcomed him as its own.

finally, donghyuck was nothing.

yangyang watched as donghyuck descended down the sea with his own will. he did not waste any time rushing back to the shore, avoiding the striking pain on his soles that he took for granted of not feeling them before. he fought back against the current as he reached the sandy shoreline. he looked back to the sea. the waves kept crashing onto each other as the sun found its courage once more.

donghyuck drowned on his own will, he repeated to himself. dead bodies don’t float, and dead men tell no tales.


End file.
